


A Good Riddle

by 1Valor1



Series: Uncommon Pairings - Oneshots [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Auror Harry Potter, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Happy Ending, No Smut, Older Man/Younger Woman, Post-Battle of Hogwarts, Romance, Time Skips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-12 11:09:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28759347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1Valor1/pseuds/1Valor1
Summary: She tries to kill him.He tries to heal her.
Relationships: Delphi & Harry Potter, Harry Potter/Delphi, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Series: Uncommon Pairings - Oneshots [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2108496
Comments: 5
Kudos: 44





	A Good Riddle

**Author's Note:**

> This is the second Oneshot that's been requested, thank you Xevier for both the suggestion and Beta work not only on this but with my main story.
> 
> Additionally, thanks to Alpple and Tetricalus for agreeing to Beta!
> 
> I hope everyone enjoys this as much as I enjoyed writing it - the next Oneshot I'll be posting is Harry/Astoria followed by a Harry/OFC Slytherin. All Oneshots I post will be requested by users in my Discord unless otherwise specified!
> 
> Thanks for reading, feel free to join the discord ( link on my profile ) and have an amazing day!
> 
> -The Power of Love Chapter 5 coming this Sunday!-

“Avada Kedavra!” 

Harry dove behind a pillar to his left, narrowly avoiding the killing curse that came bolting towards him, along with the multitude of spells that followed it. Whoever was trying to kill him this time wasn’t an amateur or a Malfoy.

“The great Harry Potter is hiding from me!?” 

He jumped from behind his cover with his shield raised after an explosion narrowly missed him.

What he saw was a young woman, no more than twenty, and even that was pushing it, he thought. She looked familiar with her dark hair, pale skin and the madness that seeped from her. 

Harry continued his defensive, his shield swallowing up every spell she threw at him in her rage - he’d noticed that not one of them was the Killing Curse, not prompting him to summon an obstacle to absorb the dark magic. If she were so bent on killing him, why not fire off more of them now that he was within her eyesight?

“Stop shielding and fight me you pathetic excuse for a wizard!” Her tone was furious, with her spells being cast even more rapidly.

She was dangerous and talented, whoever taught her had done well - but unfortunately for her, he hadn’t been sitting idly by since his defeat of Voldemort. 

Deciding to end the fight, Harry began firing off his own chain of spells towards the girl.

She succeeded in dodging and shielding the first few, but he was faster and stronger than her. Not even thirty seconds passed and he had her wand in hand with her bounded, unconscious body at his feet. 

Taking the time to look at her more closely now that she wasn’t intent on murdering him, he could see just who she reminded him of - Tom Riddle. He could be imagining things but she really did remind him of the man. Now, Dumbledore and he didn’t know everything about the boy, it could be possible the boy had a sibling that had children or even that Old Tommyboy had a kid of his own as… unpleasant a thought that was. 

Harry did have to give the girl some props having gotten past his wards and into the entrance of his home, she even almost managed to kill him! That was the closest he’s been to death since he died in the forest all those years ago, he’d have to compliment the woman for that when he spoke with her. 

Harry levitated her body into his parlour room until she was on his couch, he then righted her body and casting a rennervate brought her back to the land of consciousness. 

She gasped and instantly began struggling, before taking in her surroundings and settling her rage-filled gaze on him. 

“Where's your Aurors, _Mister Potter?”_ She questioned, spitting his name out.

“I haven’t called them.” 

She began laughing wildly before leaning as far forward as she could while bound in the ropes. “Want to start torturing me yourself then?” 

He didn’t bother to respond to the girl, instead, heading over to a cabinet in his office. Confident she couldn’t escape the bindings and even if she did, posed no threat, as he had her wand.

Searching, Harry quickly found what he was looking for in the shape of a small vial and made his way back over to the girl still squirming on his couch. Knowing she wasn’t likely to take it of her own volition, he held her nose until she was forced to open her mouth to breathe and poured the liquid down the girl's throat. 

Normally he’d just hand her off, but he’d prefer to learn more about her before simply shipping her off to Azkaban, he decided he would be hands-on today. It helped that today was more boring than usual as he’d been encouraged to take time off.

Eventually, the girls squirming died down and he pulled a chair up for himself, deciding to crack the enigma in front of him.

“What’s your name?” 

“Delphini Lestrange.”

“How old are you?” 

“Eighteen.” 

“Who’s your parents?” 

“Bellatrix Lestrange and Tom Riddle.” 

As much as he probably should be surprised - he wasn’t. Working as an Auror for over a decade tends to remove that from you. At least now, he knew why the girl looked so familiar to him.

“Have you ever killed anybody before?”

“No.”

That just made the next question all the more important if the girl had never done this before.

“Why did you try to kill me?” 

“Revenge.”

More asking rhetorically than anything, he followed that up with “Did you really think you would?” 

“No.” She answered.

“Do you have any plans after failing in killing me?” 

“My plan was to kill you or be killed.” 

Harry figured that was enough, he had the information he wanted and as a result, he knew what he wanted to do with the girl.

No, he wouldn’t do as she suggested. Though the idea had been in his head for a few seconds after she’d said it - he wouldn’t condemn the girl to a life in Azkaban. Harry prided himself on not only the number of dangerous fugitives he’d put away but also the number of those who’d gone down the wrong path that he’d helped rehabilitate with the assistance of the Ministry and Hermione. Thanks to them, hundreds of Wizards and Witches had their lives turned around and Harry was determined to add another to that number.

It was a longshot with who her parents were and the hatred that had already been instilled in her, but he would give it a try - Dumbledore would want him to. He could even speak to the man if he wanted to, he’d pocketed the resurrection stone all those years ago, although he very seldomly brought it out, lest he gets lost in the past.

With recuperation in mind for helping the girl, Harry called for one of his house elves to ready the guest room but remove anything remotely dangerous. He would use his time away from work… to work. 

This would at least remove his earlier boredom while acting as a way to save the life of a young woman who didn’t know any better. 

But should she truly prove unsavable, he would relinquish her to the hands of one of his Aurors. 

Going back over to his cabinet of goodies, Harry pulled out the Antidote for Veritaserum and gave it to the gir- Delphini. 

“I suppose now that you know what you wanted to, this is the end.” She didn’t seem angry, sad or any other readable emotion. More than likely she was assured of her coming death.

Harry snapped his fingers and the house elf appeared again with its earlier task done. Without answering her, he addressed it. “Halbey, see to it that our guest is well taken care of - provide her with whatever she’d like so long as it can’t be used to cause harm to herself or others. If you’re unsure, come to me.” 

Now he looked back at the girl. “Not the end, the beginning.” 

“Oh, and how’s that?” She spat back.

“You have talent, whoever taught you could see that. If you applied yourself towards bettering wizarding society rather than hurting it, you could be an excellent addition to wherever you’d go.” 

Delphini sneered. “I never went to Hogwarts you dimwit and nobody can take credit for my talent, I taught myself almost exclusively. Besides, you know who my parents are now - any hope of a decent future even if you randomly decided to let me go are gone.” 

He was thoughtful and once again sat in the chair across from the girl. “That’s an impressive feat.” _If totally true_ “As for your parents, I won’t be telling anybody who they are - depending on how our conversation goes.” 

Seeing that she had no real choice in the matter, Delphini sighed. “Go on then - I don’t have much you could want.” 

She looked defeated, the fight from her earlier seemingly gone with the realisation that she’d lost and he wouldn’t kill her. 

“I want you to swear on your life and magic that you’ll not attempt to kill me, harm me or otherwise injure me - that would count towards all others as well as myself unless provoked with your life in immediate danger.” Seeing the girl before him looking ready to hiss at him, Harry pushed on louder. “If you accept and swear to it, you’ll have a place to stay; here with me. In addition to your staying here, I’ll keep your parents a secret and teach you what I know in any field you wish to learn about. I may not be an encyclopedia, but I know a thing or two.” 

“That’s all you want from me?” Delphini looked distrusting at him, likely thinking that there was more to this offer than what he’d said to her.

Harry sighed and ran a hand through his messy dark hair. “I’ve had enough killing, enough revenge. There’s a reason I’m not in the field anymore. If I can give you the chance to live a better life, I’ll do it.”

Delphini was watching him closely as gears began turning in the girls head, gears Harry was all too familiar with.

“I won’t have you use this as means to an end either. You’ll have to truly want to be better. All the hate and anger has to go - I know it’s not easy. Work with me.” 

“Fine. Whatever… can you untie me now?” 

Before he did as she requested, he looked her dead in the eyes, using the Legilimency skills he’d been trained in. 

“I’ll hear you say yes.” While some didn’t keep to their word, most even, it would be easy enough to see if she would while he was in her mind.

Delphini sneered at him and challengingly met his gaze, the two having a staring contest in silence that dragged on for minutes. Eventually, the girl would break away and look towards an object of no real interest in his room before looking back at him. 

“Yes.”

That was all he needed, as Harry could sense the truth behind her agreeance. He unbound the girl and put her wand near her on the couch for the swearing of the vow; his wand was readily pointed at her should she try anything, not that he thought she would with how well it’d gone for her the first time and that was _with_ the element of surprise.

Slowly, the girl experimentally flexed around before her hand shot out to grasp her wand. She didn’t turn it on him, more likely with the way she held it to herself it was a layer of comfort and security.

Delphini kept an eye on Harry as she slowly lifted the wand up to swear as he’d wanted. 

Giving credit where credit was due, Harry admired her for the lack of wavering most would likely have in her position.

“I, Delphini Walburga Lestrange swear on my life and magic… to not kill, harm or otherwise bring injury knowingly to Harry Potter or other Witches and Wizards unless fearing for my life.” 

Harry, who was holding his wand near hers, had a brief bit of light flash when she’d finished. 

Delphini looked a bit shocked that what she’d sworn worked and then looked to Harry, expecting him to say something. When he didn’t, she did.

“Is that all?” 

“Yes. I’ll be needing some rest now, as will you, I believe. See you at breakfast, Delphini.”

Without letting her respond, the House Elf took the girl away with a pop.

He was confident that she could change, she was young still and Draco along with many of Harry’s other old schoolmates had shown they could better themselves - so why couldn’t she?

As time went by, Harry had been right - it would just take a bit.

**  
  
  
**

**The Following Day**

**Breakfast**

**  
  
  
**

Harry was sat at the rather large breakfast table while reading this morning's Daily Prophet, taking note that once again, something in the Wizengamot had stalled out with the four political groups disagreeing on the best way to address their issues. That was hardly surprising all things considered but he’d hoped this year would be better, there’s always next year at least.

“Halbey.” 

A small pop beside Harry alerted him to the elf’s presence.

“Will our guest be coming down for Breakfast?” 

Fidgeting, the diminutive creature looked at Harry. “She’s not be wanting to be eating this morning sir.” 

He sighed, seeing that the girl would likely need time rather than how he was thrusting her straight into things.

“Very well, have whatever she’d like brought to her; just tell me when she eats or if she refuses.” 

“Yes sir.” Halbey then popped away, leaving Harry to do his usual routine of coffee and contemplation. 

He needed to figure out a way to make her more comfortable, more welcomed, any way to get past the rough shell she’d put on herself.

Maybe Luna would be helpful, she always had thought outside the box. But outside help didn’t come without outside attention and if he brought Luna in, whatever she’d see would be told to their friends. He wasn’t trying to keep this a secret per se, rather, Harry wanted to do this himself as he felt largely responsible for her upbringing even if it would have been worse with her parents living.

Harry strolled with his trusted morning coffee over to his office, choosing to note down on parchment the list of things he could likely do to help show the girl he wasn’t trying to use her, hurt her or otherwise deceive her. Before he did so, he’d thought to check with the girl herself via a House Elf.

“Halbey.” 

Again the elf popped beside him.

“Ask her what she wants, it can be anything; I don’t care how trivial it seems.” 

Halbey nodded at Harry and popped away. 

Harry then filled out the parchment.

_-Take her shopping._ She wasn’t a wanted criminal so there shouldn’t be any complications besides his fame and that had an easy solution.

_-Set up a schedule for teaching her._ Delphini hadn’t even attended Hogwarts, at least she’d told him as much. If that were true, he could set up a whole list of things to teach the girl.

_-Answer any question she has._ While it sounded easier on parchment, it was anything but. She likely knew little of the wars started by her father and joined by much of her family. If he offered her the chance to ask any question she’s ever had with a promise to answer them unfiltered, it would likely go a long way in bringing her into a more stable mentality. 

_-Be there._ That could be the most valuable gift he could give her if what he’d thought was true. 

Dropping his quill to the table, Harry leaned back in his comfortable office chair and listened to the wood in his fireplace crackle while rain slammed against the window. Together the noises relaxed him while he slowly drank his cup of coffee, waiting for the elf to return with a list of wants from the girl he would do his best to help.

His wait would prove long, enough so that he’d dozed off while in his chair.

Pop.

“Harry sir, I’s be having a list of her wants!” 

Harry had snapped awake at the sound, his eyes immediately narrowing in on Halbey before he relaxed seeing who it was. He stretched his back, rolled his neck and rubbed the sleep from his eyes before leaning forward in the air and taking the offered list from the house elf’s extended hands, thanking Halbey as he did so.

When he looked at the scant amount of words fit on the small parchment from her, he took notice of how little she’d asked him for. 

_Day & Night wear, hygiene items and notebooks. _

Alright then, if she wanted those items, he would take her out to get them this evening. 

*****

Once Harry alerted the girl of his intentions on bringing her out shopping, the day had dragged on. He’d gone for a jog around his estate for what felt like hours, with only thirty minutes passing. He’d even gone to his kitchen to make a meal to the bewilderment, embarrassment and annoyance of his house elves. When that failed to pass more than an hour, Harry had settled on taking a nap until thirty minutes before the time he’d given her.

When he awoke at the thirty-minute mark before their shopping trip, he quickly ducked into his room, dressing up so that he didn’t appear a vagabond when going out in the general public. Regardless of his hero status, he wouldn’t be safe from vulturous reporters looking to make a name for themselves. Thinking on that, maybe he should offer to transfigure Delphini’s clothes too since assuredly the two of them would make the paper.

Harry was still considering that by the time Halbey dropped Delphini off in front of him. He, of course, offered to do it for her but the girl refused, saying what she was wearing at the moment was fine; and it was. She was in a simple set of clothing that didn’t look overly worn, while Harry opted for slightly better clothing than he’d normally wear.

Worrying done, the two of them used the Floo and found themselves traversing through the rampant crowds of Diagon Alley, Harry only occasionally being called out to - the hat he’d worn having done a good job at covering a portion of his face. 

At their stops the two moved quickly, grabbing Delphini’s required hygiene products, clothing and school supplies, the last trip taking more time than the other two combined. Instead of taking her home immediately, Harry took her over to Gringotts, setting up an account for the girl and putting in a few thousand Galleons as a starting fund.

Being the gentleman that he was, he acted like he didn’t see the surprised look of gratitude, followed by a few tears. 

When she thanked him, he simply returned ‘You’re welcome’ before taking them home.

Upon returning home, she thanked him for a second time, asking if she had permission to arrange the room she was staying in to her liking rather than the neutrality it was filled with; Harry obliged her request and when she’d left to get working on that, he tucked in for the night.

**  
  
  
**

**Day 30**

**Afternoon**

**  
  
  
**

“Tell me if I have this right, Harry.” Hermione began while Ron quietly snickered. “You met Delphini through some friends, decided you wanted to meet her, found out her living conditions weren’t the best and offered her your help?” 

He nodded at his best friend's words.

“You, the man who her parents hated above all others?”

Harry nodded again while Ron’s composure started to slip. 

“Harry, what were you thinking! She could’ve killed you or at least tried to seriously harm you!” Hermione cringed and looked towards the girl sitting beside him in silence. “No offence to you Delphini, I’m sure you’re a wonderful girl.” 

“Honestly ‘Mione, look at him, he’s fine.” Ron attempted to calm his wife down, the woman slapping his outstretched hand away.

“That’s not the point Ron, Harry was supposed to be taking that time off and if anything came up, send it to one of his Aurors! Not to mention all the different things that could’ve gone wrong!” Hermione looked between Delphini and Harry, her gaze flickering between the two as she finally seemed to calm down.

“Done?” Harry checked.

“Yes yes, sorry. You just worry me sometimes!” Hermione then saw the time on his kitchen clock and grabbed a hold of Ron’s ear. “We’re going to be late for our meeting with Kingsley! Harry, don’t think this is the end of it either, springing this on us at the last second to avoid a talk!” 

Ron waved goodbye as he was getting dragged from the room and Harry finally lost his composure. Those two would likely never change; not that he wanted them to. 

“Are all of your friends so… excitable, Harry?” Delphini questioned once they’d heard the floo go off.

He turned to look at the young woman and nodded his head a few times before answering. “Yes, they most definitely are. Good idea telling her towards the end of the meeting now wasn’t it?” 

Delphini hummed in reply and went back to her plate, finishing it now that their guests were gone.

Harry glanced at her a few times and thought about all the progress she’d made while under his wing.

She’d gone from hostile, cagey, starving for attention with no true education to something far better in only a months time - he’d seen plenty of magic before but the progress was astounding. 

In her first week, she was reclusive, hiding upstairs in the room he’d given her. He’d managed to get her out of the house once more after the initial shopping trip but that’d been it. Even in their lessons, the girl had been quiet, seemingly fearful of asking questions but worse yet was whenever she failed something. Never before had he seen someone capitulate to their fears or anger than the girl beside him. Harry had worked with her on that, quickly deciding to be far less like a Professor and far more like a colleague. 

On her second week, Delphini would occasionally join him at meals and by accident, refer to him as Harry rather than Mister Potter or just Potter in more heated moments. Trips out weren’t nearly as awkward or quick as they’d been. Three times the girl had asked to leave the house and all three times she’d taken the time to gather what she wanted without almost tripping on her feet; it still took a talk from him before she stopped buying the cheapest items available for purchase. Luckily in terms of her learning, once he changed tactics the girl flourished, showing astounding magical prowess - he didn’t tell her just yet, but she’d likely be more powerful than even her father had been.

Her third and fourth weeks were much the same. Delphini had fully settled in, calling him Harry and spending as much time with him as she could. During trips out she’d stand closer to him and even run off the more nosy reporters that were aiming for a scoop. Oh, how he enjoyed the look that’d come from Skeeter when she was shooed away by Delphini. Harry had thought the second week was impressive academically too, but he hadn’t thought that each following week would be just as good if not better. She was a prodigy and he’d told her as much, expressing to her that she’d need true tutors before too long on the pace she was progressing. 

“Are you going to finish your dinner?” her question took him from his proud thoughts as he looked to the young lady beside him.

“Yes, in a moment.” 

“Good, did you still want to know why your friend pulled me aside earlier?” Delphini asked casually, though he picked up a bit of embarrassment from her. 

That couldn’t be good. What did Hermione accidentally say this time? 

“If it’s not overly intrusive, yes.” A safe answer, he thought.

Delphini swallowed the bite of cake that was in her mouth and turned to him. “She pulled me aside to ask if we were dating and if so; why I liked you. Hermione went so far as to warn me away should my intentions be anything nefarious in nature.” 

Harry laughed, picturing Hermione chastising Delphini, seeing the look on the girls face he asked what she’d answered while still chuckling. He’d come to learn the girl was full of barbs and extremely quick-witted, undoubtedly he’d missed the tables being turned on his friend. 

She searched his face for a few seconds and replied while turning back towards her piece of cake, her answer being just as casual as her earlier question. “I told her yes and listed off the multitude of reasons as she requested. Cake?” 

**  
  
  
**

**Epilogue**

**  
  
  
**

”She was sorted into Slytherin?” Harry asked his wife while buttering a bit of toast, the woman reading their children's letters aloud before Harry had to head to the Ministry for work. 

“Yes, Elaine was sorted into Slytherin. Not overly surprising really and at least she’ll be with Emily rather than her trouble-making brothers.” Delphini answered him before moving onto the other letters sent from their children. “James and Sirius are doing well, up to the same old Gryffindorish antics I heard so much about it would seem.” 

“Don’t look at me, I told them to only do small pranks!” He defended himself, Delphini tilting her head at him and giving him the look that always seemed to make him crack. “I may have also told them to keep anything they did untraceable so long as it wasn’t dangerous.”

“Good husband.” 

He still couldn’t believe she’d chosen him all those years ago. At first, he vehemently denied her, the girl then throwing a major fit and eventually becoming as reclusive as she had been. When he’d tried to show her why they shouldn’t be together, she spat on whatever he’d say and tell him that she wanted what she wanted, that being him. 

After a few weeks of walking on eggshells, Harry finally relented and said they could give it a try so long as she remained comfortable and truthful with him. Something he returned when he’d told her that the ‘vow’ he had her swear was fake, the light she’d seen being a silently cast and very bright lumos. Delphini expressed surprise at hearing that before laughing it off and going right back to acting as happy as she’d been before, if not more so. 

They’d started officially dating two months after they met and six months later, they were married. 

It all seemed so fast to him but Delphini seemed just as charismatic as her father had been, luckily she only chose to use said skill on him and those at her job; all of which were far from evil. 

Now here he was in the present time with a beautiful, happy wife that seemed to know him better than he knew himself. She’d even given him four children, all of them growing up loved and doted upon by the two orphans who created them.

While her story may not have gone the way he thought it would’ve; neither did his. 

Harry smiled to himself, knowing that no matter the path it’d taken to get here, he couldn’t complain one bit.


End file.
